Monthly Archives: September 2012

I know, grammar is nobody’s favourite topic. Most people probably never studied it at school (not their fault, ok), and often we don’t really care what’s right and what’s wrong as long as our message gets across. Fine.

The point is, however, that the way we write says a lot about the type of person we are. In my view, this is particularly true in academia, and for anyone who writes in a (semi-)professional way.

Say, for example, you are writing a thesis. If you cannot be bothered to check that your grammar is right, what does it say about the quality of everything else you have put down there? Can people trust that your results are correct? Or should they wonder whether you have applied the same level of carelessness in your numbers too?

Interestingly, I have found that most common grammar mistakes are very easy to spot and to correct. I have been mulling for a while about creating a list of the 10 most common mistakes and give it away as a freebie (yes, one of those free gifts you get in exchange of your email). Well, I haven’t. Instead, I have come across this fantastic Infographic from one of my favourite blogs of all time: Copyblogger. And I thought this was just too good not to share!

So here it is. Make sure you come back here often and revisit it every time you are in doubt whether you should write its or it’s, their or they’re. Better even, print the infographic and post it where you can see it well and often enough. Oh, and by the way, if you like it, please share it further. You know how. The buttons are below.

This also coincides with the arrival of all our new PhD students. For some, this is the time to start thinking about choosing a project, or a supervisor, and finding out what to do to begin in the best possible way.